We live in a connected world -- some may say that we all are
too connected when it comes to electronic devices. American Airlines is looking
to satisfy our cravings for "all access anywhere" with in-flight WiFi
beginning this summer.

"Southwest Airlines is pleased to announce its
partnership with Row 44, and we intend to deliver the highest bandwidth
available to commercial airlines in the United States," said Southwest
Senior VP of marketing Dave Ridley. "Southwest's selection of satellite
technology will offer a more robust experience for more Customers per aircraft
versus other solutions available in the marketplace. Southwest is looking for
the best solution for our Customers not only for Internet e-mail access, but
for additional in-flight entertainment as well."

The costs for in-flight WiFi are expected to range from $10
for short flight and up to $12.95 for longer, cross-country flights.

The high-speed Internet will be provided
by AirCell. According to AirCell, the cost of providing Internet
connectivity to a single aircraft is $100,000
USD and adds roughly 100 pounds to the airframe. The equipment can be
installed overnight by airline crews.

Southwest and American Airlines are not alone in their
testing, however. JetBlue is trialing
in-flight WiFi with a single Airbus A320 aircraft dubbed
"BetaBlue." JetBlue's service is also provided by AirCell, but it
will not charge customers for connectivity.

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This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

It has nothing to do with the FAA being inefficient, or a government body. If the FAA was a private trade group, guess what? They STILL wouldnt let you use your cellphone on the flight.

Its simple. There are literally thousands of approved avionics systems in passenger service today. More appear every day. Also, there are thousands of wireless devices in the world today. As with avionics, more appear every day.

Should the FAA test every single electronic device, with every single avionics system in flight... and update it every single time something new comes out, just to tell you 'Oh, you can use this brand cellphone on this plane, but not ANY other'... or should they just say 'Turn off your cellphones.'

B) Who said that all electronic devices taken on the plane are even from the US? There are thousands of international flights per day... are you going to check to make sure that every single electronic device on that plane is FCC certified? Or are you going to simply say 'Shut em off.'

There is only ONE logical, simple, and effective way to deal with this... The current rule. Shut em off.